Doff safety bracket for looms



Feb. 9, 1954 A. THlBAULT DOFF SAFETY BRACKET FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 1, 1952 A rfhur L. Thibaulf INVENTOR.

BY wfi zfm Feb 9, 1954 A. THIBAULT 2,668,561

DOFF SAFETY BRACKET FOR LOOMS Filed Feb. 1, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Arthur L. Thibaulf INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 9, 1954 DOFE SAFETY. BRACKET FOWL'OOMSJ:

ArthunL. ,T-hibaul't, FalIRivemMasse Application. February 1, 1952'; SerialxNo, 269,368?

(Cl. .13.9s193) This invention comprises'novel a-n'd useful' improvements in-a 'dofi safety bracket'for' looms and more speci'fically" pertains to an attachment for lbomsefor positively-preventing smashing by-positively preventing thecontact of a bobbinwhi'ch may be upen ded in its seat a; shuttle at" the beginning-of the picking operation of the shuttle, from contactinghthecwarp, threads of the shed ofa'loom:

The primary object of this invention is to provid'er-amattachment= which'- will" positively engage and obstruct further movement of an upended bobbin of'ashuttle during the picked flight of the latter across the lay pita-doom therebypreventing 121181.130851131111231. of. an; upendedri. bobbin from engaginglthewarp.threadssofi the loom shed during the passage of the shuttle across the lay of the 100m;

A further object of theei-nvention is to-proyide amattachment. whichwillsbe 10ft simple; inexpensive and lightweight construction, and may be readily applied to existing conventional structures of reed caps and lays of conventional looms.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an attachment in conformity with the and objects of the invention, which will later be- I come apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a loom reed assembly with the present invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the construction of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view through a portion of a loom reed structure showing the present invention applied thereto;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the pair of brackets forming the attachment of the present invention; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 2 but showing the manner in which the device functions to engage an upended or displaced bobbin in its seat in the shuttle.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it will be seen that there has been illustrated a portion ofa conventional form ofloom; which, for exampky-may-co-m-prise the-well known Draper loom, and which'reed-structure-includesthe reed cap i 0 togetherwith" the 'lay 1 2 'carriedby the lay swords I' l-5 the lay having associated-therewiththe usualshuttleboxes lfi and i'8 disposedupon the battery and -handle-'ends--of-the loom. I'n addn tion, there is disclosed a -portionof-thepicker sticks 20 and a shuttle-22 is likewise-illustrated having aconventional bobbin orspool 24 therein: It is- 'wit h these conventional loom- -elements*' that the present-invention is specificallyadapted to be utilized? A's iswell known; if the bobbin #14 becomes un seatednr dislodged from;its proper position with inztheshuttletZZj as. by beingupende'd asind-ica-t'ed im-Figure -5 atith'eibeginnirrg-ptather picking: motion of the shuttle by therpickerrsticks; the? ups ended port-ion- ,oi;,thebobbi-n-isrliablefto patchmpon the warp threads of the shed OfnthtBdGOmJ When this occurs, the threads are damaged and the operation of the loom must be stopped to repair this damage which is known as smashing.

In accordance with the present invention, a pair of brackets are applied to the reed portion of the loom in such a position as to positively engage and halt further progress of a bobbin upended from its seated position within a shuttle; but will not interfere with passage of the shuttle or bobbin if the latter is properly seated, during the beginning of the picking operation.

The brackets forming the essential elements of this invention may be of identical construction, and each consists of an elongated flat strip of material such as metal or the like. The brackets, indicated generally by the numeral 26, are mounted upon the reed adjacent the shuttle boxes as shown in Figure 2. Each bracket comprises a relatively short upper end portion 28 provided with a pair of securing apertures 33 together with a considerably longer lower end portion 32 which is displaced from but disposed parallel with the upper portion 23. The lower portion is welded or otherwise secured to the mid-portion 34 of a U-shaped clip 36 having apertured mounting flanges 38.

The upper end portion 28 and the clip 36 attached to the lower end portion 32 are adapted to be secured as by screws or the like, as shown in Figure 3, to the sides of the reed cap and lay I ii and i2, respectively.

The bracket further includes an intermediate portion which is reversely curved, consisting of an upper horizontally extending portion 40 adapted to underlie the lower surface of the reed cap I and a downwardly and outwardly curving lower portion 42 which extends downwardly and outwardly with respect to the reed cap and overlies the lay. It is this lower portion 42 which constitutes the actual guard member of the attachment, and this lower portion is preferably disposed above the lay a sufiicient distance to permit free passage of the shuttle therebeneath during the pick of the shuttle when the bobbin is properly seated therein, as in Figure 2, but when a bobbin is upended from its properly seated position in the shuttle, whereby passage of the shuttle with the misplaced bobbin therein would cause smashing of the shed by the upended bobbin, the bracket portion 42 will strike the under side of the upended bobbin. This will further raise the bobbin resulting in either stopping the flight of the shuttle or stripping the bobbin therefrom. In either event, smashing of the shed threads will be positively prevented.

The engagement of the bobbin by the bracket portion 62 will result in automatically stopping the loom, whereby the defect must be corrected before the operation may be resumed.

It will be understood that the dimensions of the attachment bracket 26 are such as to enable the same to be appropriately placed upon the reed cap and lay of a loom.

From the foregoing the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A smash preventer for loom reeds comprising in combination with a reed cap and lay a pair of brackets disposed adjacent the battery and handle end of a loom, each bracket comprising an elongated fiat strip, means securing the ends of said strip to the reed cap and lay, the strip having an intermediate reversely curved portion disposed between the reed cap and lay and positioned above the lay a suflicient distance to clear a shuttle when picked but to engage a bobbin when it is upended in the shuttle wherein v said ends of said strip are secured by said securing means to the lateral face of the reed cap and lay.

2. A smash preventer for loom reeds comprising in combination with a reed cap and lay a pair of brackets disposed adjacent the battery and handle end of a loom, each bracket comprising an elongated flat strip, means securing the ends of said strip to the reed cap and lay, the strip having an intermediatereversely curved portion disposed between the reed cap and lay and positioned above the lay a sufficient distance to clear a shuttle when picked but to engage a bobbin when it is upended in the shuttle, said intermediate portion having a part sloping downwardly and outwardly from the reed cap.

ARTHUR L. THIBAULTr References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain of 1877 

